The forest fires currently raging across BC, driving people from their homes, leave me with a sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach. I’m safe – my home is not threatened – but I know people in these communities and have worked with them to protect their air, water … forests, communities.

And, as a climate activist, it makes me feel sick because this is just the beginning. We’re going to see more wildfires. More floods. More landslides. This is what the face of climate change looks like.

Last month, several major natural features were recognized – by governments and courts – as legal persons. We’ve written about the possibility of lawsuits by climate impacted communities against fossil fuel companies for their contribution to climate change, but this raises the fascinating possibility that India’s glaciers – or the Whanganui River or other natural features – could be the plaintiff in a climate lawsuit.

Many of us feel some pressure, or even guilt, about our environmental footprint and our role in creating climate change. Climate campaigner Anjali Appadurai breaks down this common narrative and points to the need to hold Big Oil accountable for the much bigger part it has played in creating and perpetuating the climate crisis.

VANCOUVER, BC, Coast Salish Territories – More than 50 community groups from across BC have signed onto an open letter arguing that fossil fuel companies owe BC communities for their fair share of the impacts of climate change. The letter was delivered to all 190 municipalities and regional districts in BC, asking them to demand accountability from the fossil fuel industry, up to and including considering lawsuits against Chevron and other big fossil fuel companies.